Chapter 2 Summary

In this chapter the writer introduces another young character, Cora. Cora's family moves into Magdalena's barrio. Cora is a Jewish girl who is about the same age as Magdalena and Emilia. Cora spots the girls looking at her from behind the poinsettia tree and waves at them.

Bridal makes reference to Alice and Wonderland while describing Cora's house. The big tipa tree that shades the house adds a sense of intrigue while covering the front lawn of the house with yellow flowers so that everything appears golden. Magdalena and Emilia, are known in the neighborhood for playing pranks on people but have been afraid to approach Cora's house. Magdalena tells the reader, "We would no more have unwrapped Cora's ice then we would our own."

The dynamics of Magdalena's neighborhood are introduced as she describes how she shares her barrio with Czechoslovakians, Russians...